2014 Midterm Hangover

The GOP's big night in 90 seconds

by Rachel Clarke

Welcome to the day after. Welcome to Red America.

The Republican wave swept over the 2014 Midterms, giving the GOP control of the Senate in the next Congress as well as strengthening its grip on the House and taking a bunch of governors' mansions from the Democrats.

And there is so much still to talk about!

Stay with this live stream for all the latest news and conversation and scroll way, way down to relive the drama of last night.

Without saying which way the night will go, a White House official said President Obama is "realistic" about what to expect from tonight's results. That's why the president said today this is the toughest slate of states for Democrats since Eisenhower. More on that HERE.

He is "anxious to get back to work" and put the midterms behind him, according to the official. About the president, the official said "he believes this is the fourth quarter" of his administration coming up over the next couple of years.

As for the strategy to keep the president out of key states - the "avoid Obama strategy" we've written about - this official said that was the verdict of all of the party's experts and operatives in the field. The White House knows there will be a debate within the party if that strategy proves unsuccessful, this official said.

The White House is also preparing for all eventualities: a Democratic victory in the Senate, a GOP win, or an uncertain outcome that would come with runoffs in various states.

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Asked whether the president will be looking to compromise and take a more conciliatory tone should the GOP win the senate, a WH official said the "better question is whether the GOP wants to work with us."

This official said they tried taking GOP senators out to dinner and so forth and that outreach did not materialize into compromise.

So this official said Obama is moving forward with his exec action on immigration reform. Asked whether that would poison the well with a new GOP majority, this official noted Boehner said no to immigration reform. So the president is going to make good on his promise and do it himself.

Not a lot of navel gazing at this White House tonight. No signs of a big admin shake-up. And we should expect to see that attitude carry into tomorrow. The president is expected to come out tomorrow and speak about tonight's results.

In case you're wondering why the Empire State Building keeps changing colors!

The first polls of today's election closed at 7pm tonight - it looks like blue is taking the lead for now. The lighting of the Empire State Building will continue to change to reflect the results. Stay tuned for the next few days and check #CNNElection for the final outcome.

The White House has invited bipartisan congressional leaders to the White House Friday for a post-election meeting, according to sources in both parties.

Sources say top Republicans and Democrats will discuss the upcoming lame duck session, Ebola and other topical issues.

And -it goes without saying - they will have to deal with whatever new reality presents itself after tonight's election.

It remains to be seen if one of those new realities is a Republican Senate majority.

by zbyronwolf11/5/2014 1:19:43 AM

There's a little legal drama down in Florida as former Gov. Charlie Crist sought emergency legal action to keep certain polls open. That has apparently been denied... Our Alina Machado is down there...

Rand Paul on FOX says this election was a "referendum not only on the president, but on Hillary Clinton"

by mark.preston11/5/2014 1:57:03 AM

It took no time for liberal activists to criticize Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor for losing re-election in Arkansas. Democracy for America issued this statement a short time after CNN projected GOP Rep. Tom Cotton would defeat Pryor.

"After he spent months hemming-and-hawing about raising the minimum wage, it’s no surprise that Mark Pryor lost tonight. Whether they’re in a red state or a blue state, Americans are hungry for bold solutions to the growing income inequality crisis offered by the Warren wing of Democratic Party, it’s just too bad Sen. Pryor didn’t realize that before tonight.” -- Charles Chamberlain, ExecutiveDirector, Democracy for America

The problem is that Pryor had a difficult tight rope to walk -- he was a Democrat in a state that is reliably conservative - having overwhelmingly voted for Romney and McCain in 2012 and 2008, respectively. And Pryor follows Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln out of the Senate -- she lost to GOP Rep. John Boozman in 2010.

by chris.moody11/5/2014 1:58:09 AM

Here's an update from CNN's Pamela Brown in Iowa:

Senior aide tells me Joni Ernst is in her hotel room right now working onher victory speech. Aide says the speech will be a reintroduction of whoshe is and will focus her Iowa roots, what's special about Iowa and whyIowa's way of doing things is what's best for the country.

When asked if she's working on concession speech, a separate aide sayswin or lose she wants everyone to know how proud she is to be an Iowan.